Canadian Convicted In Cocaine Trafficking

Marcel Lavigne was familiar with the corded-off ``champagne room`` where owners of the Studio 51 nightclub gathered and sometimes talked business, according to federal prosecutors.

And, authorities said, he knew another business engaged in by owners of the now-defunct Oakland Park club: drugs.

A 12-member jury in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday agreed with prosecutors that Lavigne had an intimate acquaintance with cocaine, as well as the club and its proprietors, Victor Malcolm and Michel Beaulieu.

Lavigne, a Canadian extradited to the U.S. last year, was found guilty of conspiring to distribute cocaine between July 1983 and January 1984 and two related counts. He faces a maximum of 45 years in prison.

In the same case, Malcolm was convicted last year of smuggling cocaine and bootleg methaqualone. Beaulieu is a fugitive, authorities said.

Prosecutor Neil Karadbil characterized Lavigne during the trial as a supplier of cocaine to Malcolm and Beaulieu.

Lavigne arranged for the drug to be transported from South America, the prosecutor said.

Lavigne`s relationship with Beaulieu extended to giving him a $60,000 loan to spend on the club, the prosecutor said.

Studio 51 was a late-night spot in Oakland Park popular with disco lovers but criticized by neighbors, who complained that it was noisy and its patrons created a nuisance.

City officials shut it down at one point, but it was ordered reopened by a Broward Circuit Court judge.

After Lavigne was indicted on methaqualone and cocaine counts in May 1984, he fled to the Bahamas, where he lived for almost a year before returning to Canada, authorities said. He was extradited last fall.